Cool Things in Denver

There are two -- check that -- three things that I like to do in Denver. Get some great beans from Copper Door Coffee, and that can be done on-line from anywhere. Then, pedal a friend's bad-ass single speed over to Salvagetti Bike Shop and pick up a Swobo or IceBreaker shirt and some shop schwag. Then, head over to Sushi Hai in the Highland neighborhood and stuff my face.

Free Ride, Etc

The weekend went like this. (in incomplete sentences):

Friday - work was no fun. Felt like I was getting discounted and shit on. But - who cares? Sometimes that's how it goes.

Friday night - hook up the Bob trailer and get groceries, then do a beer run to Skol Liquor.

Saturday - Lycra ride with K2 and Jeff around Lake Minnetonka, 60 miles. Lunch stop at 318 in Excelsior, always great.

Sunday - Ride to farmer's market, get honey, onions and cherries. Ride home, saw K2 running on greenway... say hi. Eat lunch and roll over to CRC for the Freeride. Had to be 250-300 bikes. Rolled off for a few stops then the phone rings. Turns out that it was someone from a Craig's list ad who had patio furniture we are interested in, she says come and get it and we comply. Abandon Freeride; get in truck (first time in ~10 days), go to west Edina and get furniture. We are pleased with the deal, install furniture on front patio. Back on the bikes and we head toward 1-on-1 but encounter a cycling family struggling to repair a flat tire... so I stop a volunteer to fix it and they are happy for it. We return to Freeride at 1:1, where Gene O. advises that the crowd has not yet arrived. Use fortuitous timing to get to the bath room. Crowd arrives, we catch up on beer consumption and tell Zito what a great time we've had. Band's set ends, discuss where to eat dinner and decide on Grumpy's... which exceeded expectations. Ride home, bathe and await TV show Minor Accomplishments on IFC. Pictures are here.... flickr

Camping at Wildcat Mountain

Wildcat Mountain State Park is just a few miles outside of Ontario, Wisconsin. It sits high on top of a hill. Site 14 and its neighboring sites are the best to get if you are camping in a tent. They are in a little cove that is rather private. I booked a site and encouraged others to do the same months ago. So - the big weekend was here, August 17-19. Me, K1 (wife) and K2 loaded the crap and made the drive south and east. Kurt drove separately and arrived later on Friday. Tom decided to cancel out because rain was expected all weekend.

Friday was great. We arrived at 2-ish, set up one of the tents and went out for a 30 mile ride. We went to places like Dell and near Cashton on roads that are ideal for cycling. Its hilly and challenging, but scenic and we ride past a lot of Amish farms.

We had a nice meal, fire and put away a lot of wine on Friday night. We were joined by a stray cat too. The rain did arrive Saturday and it rained all day. Knowing the forecast, we packed up just before the rain started and made the slow and lazy drive home. We had coffee in Pepin and shopped in Stockholm.

I'm Rockin' in a Kenwood Kit

I guess they'll sell one to any shit-head.